Before Apple's much-hyped media event on the 1st, it was reported that CEO Steve Jobs was actively trying to get iTunes Store track samples extended to 60, or even 90 seconds, from the current 30.

The event came and passed, and nothing about the time lengths of the samples was discussed by Jobs or the country.

Cnet says today that licensing issues are holding up the process, but that Jobs is still in active discussions to get the samples extended to 90 seconds.

Says Hanna Pantle, a spokeswoman for BMI, one of the organizations that collects royalties for publishers and songwriters: "We are in active negotiations with Apple."

Furthermore, Apple has already received the go ahead to extend the samples, from the record labels. Their existing contract with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) also allows for 90 seconds, so it appears to be just a couple of holdouts keeping the update from occurring.

Permalink | Comments

---

Origin has launched the ultra-high-powered Big O gaming rig today, one that packs both a high-end PC and an Xbox 360 into a single case.

The base model of the system costs a hefty $7669 but the specs are pretty intense.

Big-O, in its base configuration, has a liquid-cooled Intel Core i7 930 overclocked to 4.0GHz on a liquid-cooled ASUS Rampage III Extreme Motherboard with 6GB of Corsair Dominator 1600Mhz RAM.

Additionally, it runs a liquid-cooled Nvidia GTX 480 in SLI, dual OCZ 50GB SSD in RAID 0 with a 2TB HDD on the side. Theres also a 12x Pioneer Blu-ray burner and a Creative Fatal1ty sound card. Let's not forget the liquid cooled Xbox 360 in there, also.

if you want to spend even bigger bucks, there is a $17,000 model for sale, as well, that features dual Intel Xeon X5680 CPUs Overclocked to 4.3GHz, 12GB of Corsair GT 2000Mhz RAM and Quad SLI EVGA GTX 480 FTW GPUs.

Check it here: The Origin 'Big-O'

Permalink | Comments

---

Google has said today that it plans to launch the Google TV platform internationally in 2011, bringing the search engine to Internet-connected HDTVs around the globe.

Showing off the technology at the IFA trade fair, Google says it wants to "bridge the gap" between TV and the Internet.

Google TV projects a search bar onto the top of the screen, giving users a chance to surf/search the Web and search live TV listings.

The product should hit the U.S. market in the next few months.

Google is currently working on bringing content to Google TV from major providers, as well as Android app support. Users will soon be able to change the channel with voice recognition.

"The Internet is creating a great Internet disruption and that disruption is changing so many things," added CEO Eric Schmidt.

Permalink | Comments

---

Sony has released the minor firmware update version 3.42 today, which brings nothing new to the table but blocks the use of PSGroove, the open-source jailbreaking software used to allow homebrew on the console.

If you do not update to 3.42, you cannot connect to the PlayStation Network, effectively forcing most users to update.

The jailbreak method, which involves running some code from a plugged in USB dongle, has been around for just over a week.

Aside from homebrew, gamers could also copy their purchased games to the PS3 HDD and store them as ISO files, or even download the full ISOs from warez sites and play them back.

The PS3 had long been thought of as "unhackable," while rivals Wii and Xbox 360 have long been hacked, allow users to play pirated games or run other homebrew.

The cat-and-mouse game begins.

Permalink | Comments

---

Police have carried out anti-piracy operations in up to 14 countries across Europe. The operation, which reportedly has been in the making for the past two years, targeted top sites - or the servers at the top of the Internet piracy pyramid. The actions also appear to have left some popular file sharing websites like the Pirate Bay offline for now.

WikiLeaks host, PRQ, was also targeted by police but Swedish Prosecutor Frederick Ingblad told Swedish news outlet Expressen.se that WikiLeaks was not part of the operation. Early details indicate that raids were carried out in several European countires at the request of the Belgian authorities. Unsurprisingly, Sweden appears to have taken the lions share of the operation, with actions in Stockholm, Malmö, Umeå (at University), Eskilstuna and Solna.

"At 9:00 this morning, five policemen were here," explained PRQ's Mikael Viberg. "They were interested in who were using two IP addresses from 2009 and onwards. We have no records of our clients but we're handing over the e-mail addresses for those behind the IPs. However, it's rare that our clients have mail addresses that are traceable."

Four people are said to be undergoing questioning currently while computers have been seized in locations in Sweden.

UPDATE: The Pirate Bay seems to load from some locations.

Permalink | Comments

---